


say it with flowers

by vaahtokarkki



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Language of Flowers, Love Confessions, M/M, i say au but they're still idols and everything, includes some mother hakaze angst because thats who i am as a writer, the au part is shu agreeing to work customer service
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 14:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaahtokarkki/pseuds/vaahtokarkki
Summary: After taking up a part-time job, Shu finds out that one of their regulars is someone he knows rather well.Prompt fill for round 2 of ESO!





	say it with flowers

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt fill for the second round of the Enstars Shipping Olympics! The prompt (number 9) was as follows;
> 
> "flower shop au featuring the use of flower language (pairings: arashi/mika, shu/kaoru, kuro/nazuna)"
> 
> It's not really an AU since the only thing different is Shu working in a flower shop. I hope it's enjoyable regardless!! Also, I'm obviously not an expert in hanakotoba, but I did my best. Every flower is mentioned for a reason :^)

It’s after some long and careful deliberation that Shu takes up a part-time job. Valkyrie needs those extra funds, and if Shu didn’t take this one Mika might work himself to death trying to get the money for Valkyrie.

As for the job – well, it could be worse. A flower shop has a pleasant enough clientele, though it also has its fair share of customers who crawled out of the depths of hell.

But best of all, it’s not too close to Yumenosaki. Thus, very slim chances of any of those unrefined students walking into the store.

All in all a pretty good deal.

That is, until a certain Kaoru Hakaze starts frequenting the flower shop.  
  


* * *

The first time it happens, Shu needs a moment to recognise Kaoru. He’s wearing casual clothes and looks so comfortable in them that at a first glance, all Shu can think is that this customer is kind of attractive.

Then he takes a second look and almost chokes. Kaoru has his hair in a ponytail in the way Shu likes, though it’s somehow more tamed than usual. He meets Shu’s eyes, and after some initial surprise evident on his face, smiles nervously.

Shu forces a stiff smile of his own and then quickly looks away before his cheeks turn pink.

If he came to a flower shop… well, Shu can only think of two reasons Kaoru would be here. Either he wants a houseplant, or…

When Shu looks at where Kaoru is, he’s not browsing houseplants. Shu grits his teeth – it’s a date then. He thought Kaoru had stopped playing around (he said as much in class one day), but maybe it’s a serious date?

Ah. The thought makes Shu a little bit sick. It was fine as long as Kaoru wasn’t serious about all those girls, but if he’s courting someone for real…

Lost in overthinking Kaoru’s purpose here, Shu only realises Kaoru is standing at the counter when he clears his throat.

”Can you fix me a bouquet of those white lilies you have over there?” Kaoru nods towards them. ”Like, eight or something?”

”O-of course”, Shu coughs. ”Just a moment.”

It’s when Shu’s tying the flowers together that he realises how odd that is. White lilies? For a date? He’s burning to open his mouth and suggest something more romantic, but fears that he’d accidentally embarrass himself.

So he quietly makes the bouquet.  
  


* * *

Next time Kaoru visits the flower shop, punctually on the following Sunday, he buys a bouquet of white chrysanthemums. The next, it’s lilies again.

And the next one, Shu can no longer stay quiet about Kaoru’s glaringly strange flower choices.

”Hakaze”, Shu interrupts Kaoru’s browsing, ”chrysanthemums? Those aren’t the most romantic flowers.”

”Ahaha… really?” Kaoru looks up from the white flowers he’s so fixated on.

”You’d bring those to a grave, rather than give to a girl. Let me find you some more suitable flowers.”

”…” Kaoru gives another glance to the chrysanthemums, but doesn’t protest. ”Allright. Gotta impress my date, right?”

”…Right.” This may have been a bad choice. Helping Kaoru court someone? ”Well, let me see…”

He picks out a few flowers that suit each other in colour and meaning and builds the bouquet more meticulously than he probably needs to. It’s fine. Maybe this will end up in the hands of a girl Kaoru is infatuated with, but that’s fine.

His hands shake a little when he places one red camellia flower in last, but that’s fine too.

”Well… it’s beautiful”, Kaoru admits when Shu hands the bouquet to him. ”Certainly more eye-catching than a few white flowers on their own.”

”If you’re giving flowers, you have to do it properly. Otherwise she’ll think your heart isn’t in it.”

”I guess I didn’t put a lot of thought into that”, Kaoru grins. ”Thank you. I’ll come to your next live as thanks, okay?”

”Hm”, Shu blinks. ”Not that there’s any need to, but if you insist…”

_ But if you insist. _ Like it was up to Shu whether Kaoru’s allowed to come watch them…?!

”Haha. I’ll check my schedule first. I’ll see you tomorrow… uhh, assuming we both come to class.” Kaoru goes quiet, seems to think about something. ”Gym, right? I’ll see you on Tuesday, then.”

”Perhaps”, Shu scrunches up his nose. ”Or Monday afternoon, if I feel up for it.”

”I know I won’t”, Kaoru shrugs. ”Oh well. Tell Mademoiselle-chan I miss her smile, would you?”

”Of course. She said she misses talking with you too.”

”Aw, that’s sweet. Well…” Kaoru glances at the flowers he’s holding. ”I should get going.”

”Ah.” Shu wishes he could stay, talk a bit more. ”I won’t hold you.”

”See you around.”  
  


* * *

Mere minutes after Kaoru leaves Shu’s shift ends. He waits for the next worker to take over, and then leaves. He feels like taking a walk before going home, so that’s what he does. There’s a graveyard not too far away, and it would provide some peace and quiet.

Shu takes the shortest route and reaches the graveyard quickly. He’s about to enter the area, when he sees –

Well, he sees Kaoru, that unmistakable flower bouquet in his hands.

A date… at the graveyard?! Shu would expect something like this from Rei, but certainly not from Kaoru…! But he looks so solemn, too. Did he get broken up with? After Shu so carefully arranged the perfect bouquet for the object of his affections?!

No, no, that would be ridiculous. Kaoru can’t have had time to meet anyone between leaving the flower shop and arriving here. Then there’s only one chance: this is where he meant to come all along.

Kaoru doesn’t see Shu behind him. Shu follows him, too curious to know what he’s doing in a place like this.

He doesn’t even consider the obvious possibility until he sees Kaoru kneel in front of a grave and place the flowers in front of it.

Suddenly, he thinks he should escape. This is a private moment, between Kaoru and whoever the other is, but for some reason Shu’s feet won’t move to take him away from here. Instead he walks under a nearby tree, the branches covering him.

He intends to just watch Kaoru, that handsome face that’s more vulnerable right now than he ever lets his classmates see.

It’s not his fault he’s accidentally close enough to hear Kaoru speak, right?

”Hi”, Kaoru says. ”It’s me, again. You know.”

He clears his throat. Touches the flowers, arranges a few of them to look better.

”Um. Right. I know these aren’t what I usually bring, but I hope you like them. Someone recommended them, and you see, I could never say no to him”, Kaoru smiles. ”I did lie to him. He, uh, thought I was going on a date. I couldn’t spit it out, that I was coming to see you. I don’t think he knows about you? He’s a classmate, see, so I don’t usually… bring it up.”

Kaoru laughs, quietly.

”Well… it wouldn’t be a very cheerful conversation topic. Who wants to talk about dead mothers?”

_ Mother. _ The keyword. Kaoru never mentions his parents, so Shu has assumed he has problems with both of them. Maybe it’s just the father, then, if the mother is…

”Him? Nah, there isn’t much to say. He’s… nice to me. A lot of them are, more than I really deserve. …Right, you wouldn’t want to hear something like that. You’d say I deserve it. Well…”

Kaoru goes quiet for a few minutes, and now Shu  _ really _ considers making his escape. Maybe he can pick a route where Kaoru won’t see him, and it would be good to leave before Kaoru does… he’s already heard way too much, curse his nosiness.

Kaoru really doesn’t seem to be moving, so Shu sinks further under the tree and backs off through the foliage.

His otherwise clean escape is soiled by a bush of nettles. Still, itchy ankles are better than having to explain his presence to Kaoru.  
  


* * *

Shu thinks about Kaoru a lot the following week, even more than normally. There’s the secret Shu accidentally found out about, of course, but there’s something else as well.

Shu’s mistake in thinking that Kaoru went on dates every Sunday.

Well, it’s an embarrassing mistake, even more so now that Kaoru knows about it, so Shu would rather not think about it at all.

Naturally, he can’t do that. If Kaoru wasn’t going on dates, that  _ theoretically _ means he’s not seeing anyone. And –

Well, that’s where he needs to stop. Even if Kaoru were single, available, then what? It would be ridiculous to think Shu would make a move, not after all this time. Kaoru has made his preferences very clear.

In addition to thinking about Kaoru, Shu prepares himself for the next Sunday. Should he take back his words on the chrysanthemums? How would he explain it? But it won’t be good if Kaoru feels forced to bring unsuitable flowers to his mother’s grave.

Shu doesn’t have an answer by Sunday, and he waits in dread for Kaoru’s arrival.

When Kaoru does arrive it’s a bit earlier than usual, and something seems different about him, about the way he carries himself. For a while he walks around the store, checking out the flowers in a way that suggests he’s not actually considering any of them.

True enough, Kaoru eventually makes his way to the counter. He seems uncertain, hesitant, and his cheeks are adorned by the faintest of blushes.

Shu’s heart skips a beat from that sight alone.

”Hi”, Kaoru leans one hand against the counter. Shu suppresses the urge to swat it away, as he detests customers laying their dirty hands on there.

What he does is lean closer in return, which results in Kaoru awkwardly removing his hand. The blush on his face darkens a little.

”How can I help you today?” Shu asks pleasantly. Just act ‘casual’, right? ”Are you looking for flowers? Perhaps for something else than a date?”

Ah. So much for casual. Kaoru’s eyes widen, but surprisingly he shakes his head.

”Um, no, actually, I was wondering if you could help me gather a bouquet I could give someone while asking them on a date?”

”O-Oh”, Shu blinks. ”A date?”

”Yeah. First date.” Kaoru looks away, somewhere behind Shu. ”Uhh… those flowers you picked me earlier, that date…”

”I… I see. Uh…” Shu tries to think of a way to deflect the topic of the  _ earlier flowers, _ because he knows now they weren’t for a date. But Kaoru doesn’t know that he knows, so… ”That’s quite alright. I assume you’d rather not talk about it.”

”Y-yeah, that’s it”, Kaoru nods hastily. ”Yeah. I’d rather not. Haha.”

”Well! Then we can start looking for suitable flowers. First date…”

”Like a… date request and confession in one, you know?”

That’s when it hits Shu. A moment ago he was too occupied in steering clear of the topic of the earlier ’dates’, but if Kaoru is here specifically to ask about actual date flowers…

Oh. Then that means…

”So… someone’s caught your eye, then?”

Kaoru seems surprised at the question, which probably means it wasn’t as casual as Shu hoped. Well, no taking it back now.

”Yeah, you could say that. For a while now, actually.”

”Ah.” Shu has to clear his throat, but the lump that’s formed in there doesn’t seem to budge. ”Well… I wish you the best of luck, of course. As your classmate. And Mademoiselle would surely be cheering you on too if she were here.”

Shu wishes she was here now so he could hold her and feel marginally calmer.

The bouquet he arranges is somewhat different than the one last week. A little less passion, a little more infatuation.

”Oh, those are beautiful”, Kaoru notes, looking over at Shu placing a few white gardenias to balance out the different red and pink hues.

”They’re to express your fondness”, Shu explains. ”Of course, we can’t assume the object of your affections will know what they mean, but aesthetics are also important.”

He holds the bouquet further away from himself to inspect it. Those aesthetics are looking sublime right now, and he can’t think of a lot else to add.

The smile on Kaoru’s face upon receiving the bouquet fills Shu’s heart with conflicting emotions. On one hand, he made Kaoru smile like that, his creation did –

And on the other, the  _ reason _ Kaoru is smiling is because he can now give the bouquet to someone he cares for.

”Before you go –” Shu regrets opening his mouth already, but he can’t leave the sentence unfinished. ”Please take this with you. For, for our loyal customer.”

Oh, this is a  _ terrible _ idea. Kaoru stares at the yellow tulip in Shu’s hand for a while before carefully taking it.

”For… me?”

”Not included with the bouquet. A gift from m- from the store.”

Shu’s throat feels like sandpaper. Kaoru, cheeks pink, doesn’t seem to know what to make of the flower.

Right. It would be weird for Kaoru to carry an extra flower while confessing to someone, wouldn’t it? Shu opens his mouth to take back his words when Kaoru shakes his head minutely.

”Um… well… thank you.” Kaoru lifts his gaze and a lovely smile blooms on his face, knocking all thoughts out of Shu’s head. ”I’ll take care of it.”

When Shu tries to speak he can only muster a wheeze, and masks it as a cough.

”Y-yes. Good luck with… with your endeavor.”

”Thanks. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

_ Please don’t, _ Shu thinks, but the words stay firmly sealed at the back of his throat.

* * *

About an hour later Shu’s shift ends. He spends that hour mulling over his decision to hand Kaoru a tulip. Even if Kaoru doesn’t know his way around flower language, it’s not difficult to find out the meaning of, say, a specific flower. And if Kaoru were to confront Shu about it, Shu couldn’t feign ignorance.

What was it, then? A final, desperate attempt at discreetly letting Kaoru know Shu cares for him? Or just one unfortunate moment where he wasn’t thinking straight?

Whatever it was, it doesn’t change the fact that Shu gifted Kaoru a flower after talking about the importance of flower meanings.

With luck Kaoru will never mention it again.

It’s begun to rain. Shu has his umbrella, naturally, even though in the morning it didn’t seem like rain was a plausible option. Better to be prepared than be caught unaware.

Someone’s standing outside the store, clearly caught by the rain and unable to keep walking. Shu is about to look at him smugly – he should have brought an umbrella – until he looks at the person’s face.

”Hakaze?” Shu gasps. ”You’re still here?”

Kaoru’s hair is flat and he sneezes before looking at Shu.

”Embarrassing, huh? I didn’t think it would start to rain. The flowers…”

Kaoru looks like a sad, drenched puppy, and even more so when he lifts up the miserable bouquet Shu so carefully arranged. It’s dripping water, the flowers in disarray. Some petals are on the ground around Kaoru, and most notably, Shu can spot yellow tulip petals.

”Your health is far more important”, Shu scolds. ”But… why did you return? Weren’t you supposed to deliver that to someone special?”

”Yeah, well”, Kaoru grins weakly, ”that got all messed up, right? I was taking a walk around before coming back, but the rain got me good. Might as well just… here, take it.”

”I’m out of work”, Shu declines the bouquet Kaoru is trying to hand him. ”I can ask my coworker to craft you a replacement, but I can’t accept the old one.”

”Yeah, I wanted to wait until you were out of work. Would be bad manners to give it to you while you were working, right?”

”Whatever are you talking about?” Shu frowns. ”You  _ meant _ to give it to me? You’re making no sense –”

One option  _ would _ make sense. But it’s impossible, right? Yet the way Kaoru is speaking, implying he meant to give this bouquet back to Shu… as a gift…?

Shu’s mouth falls open. Him? Him?!

He means to ask as much, something along the lines of  _ I’m the person you’re infatuated with?, _ but the only sound he manages is a strange gurgle.

”Itsuki-kun, are you okay? You’re not in a state of shock, right?” Kaoru steps closer, worried. ”I know it’s weird, and you can decline the flowers. Well”, Kaoru looks down at the bouquet, ”feel free to decline the flowers either way. Right now they just look sad.”

Decline them? No, no, unfathomable. Shu reaches out without thinking, fingers brushing against Kaoru’s as he takes the bouquet from Kaoru’s hand. He hopes the gesture will give Kaoru an answer because he still doesn’t know if he can speak.

Kaoru blinks and looks up from his now empty hands. Shu cradles the bouquet close, ignoring the way it’s already wetting his shirt.

Kaoru’s eyes dart between the bouquet and Shu’s face, but Shu holds his gaze steady, catching Kaoru’s eyes whenever he can.

Then, Kaoru seems to understand. His face lights up, and he breathes out slowly.

”Really? That’s a yes?”

”Of course it’s a yes”, Shu huffs, finally finding his voice. ”You’re constantly on my mind. And then you keep waltzing your beautiful self in here every Sunday? Oh, I’ve been in  _ agony _ .”

”Waltzing…? No, nevermind.” Kaoru laughs a bit, gaze now fixed on Shu in some kind of fascination. ”Come here, there’s something I want to try.”

”Try?” Shu feels uncertain about whatever this is, but follows regardless, even when Kaoru steps out from under the awning. ”You should come under my umbrella.”

”No, no, ditch the umbrella.”

”…Pardon?”

”We need to be in the rain, okay?”

”We need to what?”

”In the rain”, Kaoru repeats.

Shu looks at his umbrella, then at Kaoru. If he’s… sure about this…?

Shu closes and lays down the umbrella. With a deep breath, he steps out into the downpour. It’s cold and disgusting, and he already regrets this, but all those thoughts are forgotten once Kaoru takes his hand.

”Why are we here?” Shu asks, shivering. Kaoru doesn’t answer, and instead traces his other hand down Shu’s cheek. ”H-Hakaze?”

”I was gonna kiss you, but, um”, Kaoru looks down, suddenly bashful. ”It’s a bit embarrassing…?”

This is for the sake of romance…?! Shu swallows hard, considering it. This seems like a scene from a girls’ manga (not that Shu ever reads any, absolutely not), but are they brave enough…? The thought of kissing Kaoru so suddenly is – it’s –

”Maybe a… hug…?” Shu suggests. Kaoru looks at him, mouth falling open.

The hug that follows isn’t as romantic as it could be if both of them weren’t soaking wet and shivering from the cold. Shu’s shirt sticks to his chest in an uncomfortable way, and Kaoru’s hair feels strange under his hand.

”I really thought it would stay sunny”, Kaoru mutters after they separate. ”Ugh – I messed up good, huh?”

”I wouldn’t say this is bad”, Shu says, but his words are weakened by the three sneezes that escape his mouth right after. ”…Maybe it’s a little bit bad. Can I now tempt you under my umbrella?”

”No need to say it twice.”

The umbrella feels a little useless when they’re both already wet, but Shu uses it as an excuse to get close to Kaoru and wrap an arm around his shoulders.

And maybe, at some point, Kaoru lays his head against Shu’s shoulder, and  _ maybe, _ Shu walks Kaoru all the way home and kisses his hand as a goodbye.

Just maybe.  
  
  


* * *

For some divinely unfair reason, the only person to catch a cold from their attempted re-enactment of a romantic scene is Shu.

Then again, it does get him a mildly guilty Kaoru by his bedside, cooking him soup and holding his hand. So would he say it was all worth getting sick?

Yes, without a doubt.


End file.
